7 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 7Mannheim and Paris
In 1777 he petitioned the archbishop for his release and,
with his mother to watch over him, set out to find new
opportunities. They went first to Munich, then to Augsburg.
At the end of October they arrived at Mannheim, where
they stayed for more than four months at the musically
progressive court of the Elector Palatine. He became
friendly with the Mannheim musicians, undertook some
teaching and playing, and composed several piano sonatas,
some with violin. Mozart and his mother reached Paris
late in March 1778, and Mozart soon found work. His most
important achievement there was the symphony (K 297), a
brilliant D Major work.
By the time of the symphony’s premiere, on June 18,
his mother was seriously ill, and on July 3 she died. Soon
after, Leopold negotiated a better post for Mozart in
Salzburg, where he would be court organist and still
nominally Konzertmeister, and Mozart reluctantly
returned home in mid-January 1780.
Salzburg and Munich
Much of Mozart’s work after his return displayed his
command of international styles, notably the symphonies
K 318 in G Major and K 338 in C Major, as well as in the
sinfonia concertante for violin and viola K 364. Also during
this time, Mozart composed the two-piano concerto, the
two-piano sonata, as well as a number of sacred works,
including the best-known of his complete masses, the
Coronation Mass.
But it was dramatic music that attracted Mozart above
all, and in 1780 he received a commission to compose a
serious Italian opera for Munich. The subject was to be